Torres was accused of feigning an injury after Sergio Ramos' flailing arm appeared to hit him.

The Real defender, and Torres' Spanish international colleague, picked up his second yellow card and was sent off midway through the second half.

"He (Torres) invented a foul in front of the referee. If he's had been hit with an elbow then that would have deserved a red card but the way he threw his hands up to his face, he was just trying to trick the referee," said a furious Capello.

"It's cheating to try and trick the referee and everyone else. These cheats should be sanctioned. That's what I always said when I was in Italy.

"The linesman was near and he could have assisted the referee but you have to take care with the cards in a derby.

"Guti was consistently kicked and in the end he couldn't carry on but Sergio didn't do anything and was sent off," added Capello bemoaning the injustice of the decision compared to some of the fouls inflicted on his own players.

"But the one who also tricked the referee should also be banned," added Capello, well aware that Sergio Ramos is likely to receive the mandatory one-match ban for being sent off.

Despite Sergio Ramos' dismissal, Real hung on to salvage a draw, although they were jeered from the pitch by the same supporters who had cheered them on Tuesday after their 5-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League.

Fernando Torres, who has frequently been booked for diving and has a reputation for falling to the ground at the merest touch of an opponent, stood his ground for once.

"Capello should look at the TV pictures and talk less," said the Atletico striker acidly, well aware that his behaviour on the pitch will come under scrutiny again.

Torres' teammates also leapt to his defence. "The foul merited a yellow card and since he already had one it was correct that he was sent off," commented Atletico's Argentine midfielder Maxi Rodriguez.

Nevertheless, whoever is right or wrong, it will make for some tense times when the Spanish squad get together in the coming days ahead of their trip to play Sweden in the Euro 2008 qualifiers next Saturday.

Real and Atletico both have three men each in the squad, which includes Sergio Ramos and Fernando Torres.